Afghan army may fill key security role by 2009

By David Brunnstrom

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Afghan forces may be able to take over some large-scale regional security operations from NATO but not before 2009 or 2010, a senior NATO commander said on Monday.

Brigadier-General Vincent Lafontaine, operations commander of the 40,000-strong NATO force in Afghanistan, said the process of trying to put the Afghan army at the head of some missions had already started and the aim was to step this up next spring.

"It's the beginning and we will have to improve," the French general told a news conference in Brussels by video-link.

Asked when the Afghan National Army (ANA) might be able to take over a regional security role from some of NATO's provincial reconstruction teams, he replied:

"It could not be possible on a large scale before 2009-2010."

Western forces have been in Afghanistan since shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities by al Qaeda, whose chief Osama bin Laden was sheltered by the Taliban regime.

The country has seen a steady escalation of violence in the last two years, the worst since the Taliban's 2001 overthrow.

Lafontaine said NATO did not have the resources in Afghanistan to control such a large country quickly, so its strategy relied on improving the capabilities of the army and police.